Touching the Void
starring: Simon Yates, Joe Simpson, Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, Richard Hawking
directed by: Kevin Macdonald
directed by: Kevin Macdonald
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Product Description:
Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. It was 1985 and the men were young, fit, skilled climbers. The west face, remote and treacherous, had not been climbed before. Following a successful three-and-a-half-day ascent, disaster struck. Simpson fell a short distance and broke several bones in his leg. With no hope of rescue, the men decided to attempt descent together with Yates lowering Simpson 300 feet at a time in a slow, painful process that could have potentially been deadly for both. One further misstep led to Yates unknowingly lowering his injured partner over the lip of a crevasse. With the gradient having gone from steep to vertical, he was no longer able to hold on. Certain they were about to be pulled jointly to their deaths, the only choice was to cut the rope. How Simpson survived the fall, and made it back to base camp is a story that will astound and inspire. In Touching the Void, Yates and! Simpson return to t
Amazon.com:
To describe Touching the Void as a mountaineering documentary would be to do this breathtaking drama an injustice. By intercutting narration from the climbers themselves with a nail-biting reconstruction of their remarkable adventure in the Peruvian Andes, the film has the best of both genres: the authentic stamp of factual storytelling and the edge-of-the-seat tension of a dramatic movie.
In 1985, two British mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, embarked on a daring--arguably reckless in the extreme--attempt to climb the previously unconquered mountain Siula Grande. A mixture of overconfidence in their own abilities and underestimation of the climb's difficulties brought them to grief after the successful slog to the summit. What follows is an often harrowing account of their perilous descent.
Based on Joe Simpson's gripping book, the film boasts glorious widescreen photography of Siula Grande and its notorious glacier. Actors take the place of the two climbers for close-ups, though Simpson did return to Peru in order to reenact parts of his dreadful crawl back down the ice. The story of Simpson's almost-superhuman fortitude has become legendary in climbing circles, and even for viewers uninterested in mountaineering, Touching the Void is an astonishing slice of real-life drama, magnificently retold. --Mark Walker
Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. It was 1985 and the men were young, fit, skilled climbers. The west face, remote and treacherous, had not been climbed before. Following a successful three-and-a-half-day ascent, disaster struck. Simpson fell a short distance and broke several bones in his leg. With no hope of rescue, the men decided to attempt descent together with Yates lowering Simpson 300 feet at a time in a slow, painful process that could have potentially been deadly for both. One further misstep led to Yates unknowingly lowering his injured partner over the lip of a crevasse. With the gradient having gone from steep to vertical, he was no longer able to hold on. Certain they were about to be pulled jointly to their deaths, the only choice was to cut the rope. How Simpson survived the fall, and made it back to base camp is a story that will astound and inspire. In Touching the Void, Yates and! Simpson return to t
Amazon.com:
To describe Touching the Void as a mountaineering documentary would be to do this breathtaking drama an injustice. By intercutting narration from the climbers themselves with a nail-biting reconstruction of their remarkable adventure in the Peruvian Andes, the film has the best of both genres: the authentic stamp of factual storytelling and the edge-of-the-seat tension of a dramatic movie.
In 1985, two British mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, embarked on a daring--arguably reckless in the extreme--attempt to climb the previously unconquered mountain Siula Grande. A mixture of overconfidence in their own abilities and underestimation of the climb's difficulties brought them to grief after the successful slog to the summit. What follows is an often harrowing account of their perilous descent.
Based on Joe Simpson's gripping book, the film boasts glorious widescreen photography of Siula Grande and its notorious glacier. Actors take the place of the two climbers for close-ups, though Simpson did return to Peru in order to reenact parts of his dreadful crawl back down the ice. The story of Simpson's almost-superhuman fortitude has become legendary in climbing circles, and even for viewers uninterested in mountaineering, Touching the Void is an astonishing slice of real-life drama, magnificently retold. --Mark Walker
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Some considerations to keep in mind!
First of all, this is one of those rare productions where some 'Hollywood' version of true events [** you know, the old Hollywood classic of "for the sake of the script, viewer interest and so-termed 'creative license' ...] doesn't tinker with the facts or where countless Hollywood hawked "taken from true events" winds up taking a beating and pure 'fiction' enters the script forthwith! See my K2 review and the additional problem of some folks seeing a 'movie' and suddenly transpose the movie and ... Read More
Rating: 
- Excellent
The simplest of words can sometimes convey far more than the most elaborate action scenes. This runs counter to the whole `a picture is worth a thousand words', yet is nonetheless true.
This film is a docudrama about two young British mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who in 1985 decided to become the first men to ever scale a treacherous Andean peak in Peru called Siula Grande. They left for their task with a third climber who was to wait at their base camp- Richard Hawking. ... Read More
Rating: - True Spirt
This movie is one that shows a real life story of a mountian climbing trip that leads one man to a struggle for his life. Touching the void conveys a the true feeling of strugle to the viewer. It offers a sense of how those with the those that can withstand the forging of ones soul in life will have the fortitude to make it through anything humanly possably. This Movie shows the limits of man can sometimes be just enough to survive.
Rating: - Extremely Inspirational
I'm reading a book right now about extreme athletes (Explorers of the Infinite by Maria Coffey) which led me to this movie.I was blown away, I haven't read Touching the Void the book yet, but this movie is well worth a viewing.Although I've never done mountaineering yet, I have gone 2 months without sleep before, and I can verify that this movie depicted that area of experience very very well, I was impressed.It's very inspirational too keep making decisions whether right or wrong, remindful ... Read More
Rating: - Amazing story, good documentary
Perhaps the underlying true story already provides all the drama, but this documentary is true to the Simpson's book and shows a rare glimpse into the minds of the three key people.
Highly recommended, especially if you have read the book.
- Some considerations to keep in mind!First of all, this is one of those rare productions where some 'Hollywood' version of true events [** you know, the old Hollywood classic of "for the sake of the script, viewer interest and so-termed 'creative license' ...] doesn't tinker with the facts or where countless Hollywood hawked "taken from true events" winds up taking a beating and pure 'fiction' enters the script forthwith! See my K2 review and the additional problem of some folks seeing a 'movie' and suddenly transpose the movie and ... Read More
- ExcellentThe simplest of words can sometimes convey far more than the most elaborate action scenes. This runs counter to the whole `a picture is worth a thousand words', yet is nonetheless true.
This film is a docudrama about two young British mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, who in 1985 decided to become the first men to ever scale a treacherous Andean peak in Peru called Siula Grande. They left for their task with a third climber who was to wait at their base camp- Richard Hawking. ... Read More
- True SpirtThis movie is one that shows a real life story of a mountian climbing trip that leads one man to a struggle for his life. Touching the void conveys a the true feeling of strugle to the viewer. It offers a sense of how those with the those that can withstand the forging of ones soul in life will have the fortitude to make it through anything humanly possably. This Movie shows the limits of man can sometimes be just enough to survive.
- Extremely InspirationalI'm reading a book right now about extreme athletes (Explorers of the Infinite by Maria Coffey) which led me to this movie.I was blown away, I haven't read Touching the Void the book yet, but this movie is well worth a viewing.Although I've never done mountaineering yet, I have gone 2 months without sleep before, and I can verify that this movie depicted that area of experience very very well, I was impressed.It's very inspirational too keep making decisions whether right or wrong, remindful ... Read More
- Amazing story, good documentaryPerhaps the underlying true story already provides all the drama, but this documentary is true to the Simpson's book and shows a rare glimpse into the minds of the three key people.
Highly recommended, especially if you have read the book.
